Box staying machine



Jan. 22, 1935. MJV. SILBY BOX STAYING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sneet 1 Filed Feb. 25, 1933 [N VENTOA flm/ /v Kin. B)

A TORNE Y Jan. 22, 1935. v SILBY BOX STAYING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25, 1933 Patented Jan. 22, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFICE 1,988,814 BOX STAYING MACHINE Martin v. Silby, Brooklyn, .'N. Y. Application February 25, 1933, Serial no: 658,508 i scams. 1 (or. 93-56 This invention relates to apparatusfor attaching stays or reinforcing strips to the corner joints of boxes made of paper-board, paper or similar material; and has for its general object the provision of a machine for applying such stays to boxes whose outer walls are inclined eonvergently from the bottom upward, so that the box, or at least the base thereof, presents the formof'the frustum of a solid, as for example a pyramid, when stays have been provided at its several inclined upright joints.

A more particular object ofthe-invention is to provide such a machine with means readily used and controlled by operatives having only average mechanical skill, to receive and present for the staying operations box blanks of a novel form which would present somewhat unusual difiiculties to speed and accuracy of manipulation-by such operatives in the absence of the improvements by which the machine of the present invention is characterized as'hereinafter disclosed.

Another object of theinvention is to provide such a machine with means to utilize a continuous stock strip of stay material in the operation of the machine, which is provided for that purpose with theinstrumentalities requisite to supportand feed such stay strip stock intermittently and to sever therefrom stay-pieces of the very special contour necessary to permit the production of neat and sightly corner reinforcements of the bevelledcorner joints of the box.

' Among other objects of the invention is the provision of such a machine with the operating elements so arranged as to be readily accessible for inspection, adjustment,-' removal and replacement, and also to provide elements of sturdy construction, cooperating smoothly and with but little wear throughout a long period of usefulness.

Still another object of the inventionis to organize the various instrumentalities of such ,a machine in the general arrangement characteristic of machines embodying-theinvention of the Knowlton Patent No. 1,061,084, inasmuch as the structure and operation of such corner stayer machines so-called are f-amiliarto the trade and well understood by operatives; although it is to be understood that various features of the invention are susceptible of embodiment in numerous other types of machines for analogous purposes.

The invention also has for an object a novel method of fabricating box members having convergent walls and as a cognate object a boxmemher having novel structural features formed by said method.

The above, and other features of the invention.

areillustrated and described fully in the accompanying drawings and specification and are point-1 ed out in the-claims V A H In the drawings! Fig. 1-is aviewi'n side elevation of the upper 5 parts of a box-corner stay-attaching machine embodying this invention, showing indotted lines a box-blank supported in position for a stayattaching operation upon one corner joint thereof.

. Fig. 2' is a front view of the machine.

. Fig. 3 is'a fragmentary sectional detail view of part of the cooperating cutting andpre'ssing mechanism, taken upon the line 3-3-of Fig. 2.

Fig.4 is a similar view on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view in plan of a novel .box blank suitable for use in carrying the invention into effect.v 1 I Fig. dis a planview of a completed box base, fitted with stay strips by use of the machine.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.. v v

. Fig. 8 isa detail view of one of the chevronshaped stay-pieces taken separately;

Fig. 9 is a viewin perspective of a now-preferred form of a complete box embodying a base member and an extension member or box'prop'er, assembled to formaunltary structure embodying the invention. f

' In the now-preferred embodiment of the invention selected for illustration in the drawings, the

part designated by the numeral 11 is the head; frame of the machine in which is journalled a main driving shaft 12 havinga pulley 13 adapted to be driven by a. belt running from a suitable source of power to-operate' the machine. 5

At the front ofthe machine is fitted in vertical 3 guides 14 a reciprocating slide 15 having near its lower end a stud 16 which isconnected by a connecting' rod 17 to a wrist-pin 18 on the driving shaft 12, by which theshaft is arranged to cause vertical reciprocation of a die-stock 19 mounted on the lower end' of slide '15.

In the die-stock 19 is secured removably, as by a setscrew 21; remember 20 comprisingavcutter element 22 anda presser element 23, these elements being conveniently formed as integral parts of the member 21, as illustrated, although this is not essential.

The reference numeral 24 designates another cutter element, bolted to the frame at 25and arranged to coact with the cutter element 22 in severing stay-pieces of appropriate shape and size from a continuous stock strip 26. of paper or other suitable tape which. is fed intermittently across the path of descent of cutter element 22.

between the latter and cutter element 24, at the desired intervals, to bring into position for severance successive end-portions of the tape, which in the instance illustrated are respectively of the form of a chevron as indicated at 27 in Fig. 1, and separately in detail in Fig. 8.

The cutter elements 22 and 24 are suitably shaped to produce this, or any desired and suitable shape, and their presentstructure is illustrated inside 5 elevation in Fig. l andmore in detail in Figs-3 and 4.

The stock strip of tape 26 may be, and preferably is, for the present purpose, given an inverted V-shaped contour in cross-section, as indicated at the broken-off rear portion thereof toward the right-hand side of Fig. 1, either before, or during, its passage through a guide-roll couple 28, one of the rolls preferably dipping into a tank 29 of water or adhesive, to permit the under surface of the tape to be moistened, if it is already provided with adhesivaor to apply adhesive thereto if desired. v v

Any suitable step-by-step feeding mechanism may be utilized to feed thetape, and as one convenient and pr'eferre'd form of such feeding mechanism I have illustrated across-head 30 sliding in guides '31 and 'provided'witha pair of jaws 32, 33, of which the'former isfast upon the head, while the latter is mounted upon one arm of a bell-crankiever' 34, the other armof which is connected bya link 35 to a pitman 36 journalled upon a pin'37 atthe top of the frame 11.

.Ai ispring 38 tends to draw the pitrnan rearwardly," and with it the head 30 and jaws 32, 33, at the same timecausing the upper jaw to recede from gripping engagement with the tape, in obvious fashion, due to the lag ofthe head under frictional engagement with the 'slideway 31, and/or the auxiliary action of a spring 39 mounted on a bracket 40 which may also serve as an abutment or stop to limit rearward pivotal motion of the bellzcrank lever underv the action of link 35 and spring 39.

' Forward'feeding movement ofthe pitman 36,

andtape26 is caused'by the action'of a face cam 4l-. in ounted to rotate, with the shaft 12 and bearing against an anti-friction roller 42 upon the;

pitman,.,the. jaw 33 being clamped downward upon. the jaw 32Iandintervening portion of the tape 26 when the link 35 is. pushed forwardly byv the pitman. The throw of pitman 36 maybe regulated by means of a screw 43. to vary the extent of feeding movement of the head 30. z j 1 Passing nowto the novel'stay-apply'ing mechanism proper, this cOmprises, in its. now-preferred form, a box supporting member 44"adapted, to be, moved intopositionto support1theboxblank B in-juxtaposition with the cutter elements 22, 24, already described, and with thereciprocating presser element 23 associated .with the movable 'cutter element,.so that ea'ch chevronshaped stay-portion 2'7 severed from the stockstrip 26 will be received b-yan appropriate corner joint of the box, in a manner to be described more at length, and then the box-support will be removed bodily to aposition remote from the region of stay-application, so that the box can be readily manipulated-by the operativeto arrange another corner joint instay-attaching position, and so that the operative. can readily remove the box when it has received its full complement. of staystrips, and a fresh box-blank can be quickly substituted therefor.

To accomplish the above aim, the box-support 44 preferably takes the form, as illustrated, of an a cam 52 mounted upon the vertically sliding head 15, so arranged that when the slide 15 moves upward, the box-support 44 is moved positively outward, by the action of an anti-friction roller 53 carried in a fork 54 at the lower end of pitman 49 and working in a yoke 55 extending upward from the member 44 and which permits compensating action between the arcuate movement of the roller.53 and the right-line movement of the-member 44.

It will be observed that by thus providing for a considerable range of bodily movement by the box-supporting member 44, ample free space is yielded for easy and accurate manipulation of the box-blank B by the operative, who has only to place the box-blank B against a gauge plate 56 mounted on a frame bracket 57 (see Fig. 3), which is preferably inclined downwardly and outwardly to provide sufficient clearance for such manipulation. The gauge plate has wings 60, in inverted V-shaped re1ation, to limit the upward movement of 'the box-blank. The above-mentioned clearance is further provided for by arranging the boxsupporting member to slide rearwardly, under actuation by the pitman 49, to an extent clearly indicated in Fig. 1, where the nose 58 of the anvil appears in its retracted position, this nose portion being cutaway at its under side 59. Theimportance of this novel arrangement will be realized when it is considered that provision is being made for the attachment of chevron-shaped stay-pieces 27 to bevelled corner joints b between convergently tapering walls I) of the box-blanks B (see Figs. 5-7), and it is to be added that the problem of so providing for novel'treatment of the boxblanks was further complicated by the practical necessity of utilizing box-blanks of highly specialized structure.

This becomes more apparent upon reference to Fig. 7, in which is shown clearly the presence of re-entrant box-wall portions or flaps b which I have provided to render more stable the structure of the box walls, and which aid the operative in preparing the box-blanks to receive the nose 58 of the anvil, a simple folding movement of each flap b sufiicing to effect this preparation. The blanks, as shown in Fig. 5, are preferably scored along the lines b and b to facilitate accurate folding of the flaps, and. of the bottom joints where the walls are hinged to the bottom of the box.

It is also to be noted that the box-blanks are applied to the gauge plate 56 with the box opening outwardly, instead of inwardly, in order to receive the anvil nose 58, and thus constitutes a departure from conventional practice in the operation of such machines.

The attaching operation is automatically completed by the machine, without the need for further manipulation by the operative other than the slight effort involved in holding the blank snugly in place up against the gauge plate 56, as the anvil 44 moves forward under the yielding pressure of the spring 46, inasmuch as-the action of the member 44 is such as to support-the con vergently abutting wall-edges at the corner joint, and to press the blank lightly but firmly against the gauge wings 60, while the'presser element 23 descends to-seat itself against the bevelled corner joint of the box blank, with the chevron-shaped stay-piece 2'7held firmly therebetween.

The stay-piece, already provided on its under surface as hereinbefore described, is thus attached firmly andaccurately inxplace and the attach-,- ment of one' corner stay having thus been completed, the'continued' actuationEof the machine automatically through the inoperative phases of its cycle acts to raise the',associated reciprocating cutter and presser elements 22 and 23 away from the box corner, and then to retract the box: support 44 positively, to bring its nose 58 to the position shown in-Fig,,1, without any reliance upon the personal initiative of the operative, who has only to shift the box-blank'to adjust afresh corner joint into position against the .gauge 56', or to remove the blank and substitute a new blank, as thecasemaybe. I J

Ample time is allowed for these simple'manual operations, and there is no danger of injury 'to stock or to the operative if any given corner joint treatment happens to fail, as the inward movement is a yielding one, dependent upon the tension of spring 46, which need not be of suflicient strength to endanger the operative or the stock.

The completed product, when it has the shape shown in Fig. 6, which, of course, is merely an illustrative form, constitutes a shallow box structure with converging walls having bevelled corner joints firmly held by the stay pieces, which are neat in appearance, owing to the novel chevron shape, which insures a perfect parallelism of the upper and lower edges of the stay pieces relatively to each other and to the plane of the box bottom.

Such a shallow box member is particularly useful to impart a graceful base finish to conventional strength sided boxes, in the manner illustrated in Fig. 9, where the reference character B designates the conventional cubical box, with the base of Fig. 6 applied thereto.

It will be understood, without further illustration, that the composite product shown in Fig; 9 can be covered with a paper facing of ornamental or any desired and suitable design, and that the box B can be provided with a cover of conventional form, or one taking the form of the shallow box member of Fig. 6, if it be desired to carry out a symmetrical embodiment of the invention at the top and bottom of the box.

The bottom member and/ or the top member, if such is provided, can be attached permanently to the box B, or either or both of such members can be associated removably therewith, the frictional effect of the flaps I) being sufficient to insure retention of the member of Fig. 6 in place upon the box B, if the material of the blank B is sufficiently stiff.

I claim:

1. In a machine for attaching box-corner stays, the combination with a frame, of a. reciprocating plunger and operating means therefor mounted on said frame, a stay-cutter and a stay-pressing means respectively movable with, and actuated by, said plunger, a cooperating stay-cutter mounted on said frame, a gauge, and a combined boxsupport and auxiliary presser means also mounted upon said frame and adapted to be moved into position to support said box in juxtaposition with said gauge; cutter devices and'movable pressing device'ito receive a stay, 'said' box-support being movable bodily away-from the operating path of saidreciprocating cutter and presser devices to permit respectively the application of a box to F.

said gauge; and removal: therefrom of said box when it has received saidstayl 1 l 2. In a machine for attaching box-corner stays, the combination with a frame, of a reciprocating plunger and operating means therefor mounted onsaid frame, a stay-cutter'an'd a stay-pressing means respectively movable with, and actuated by, said plunger,a cooperating stay-cutter mounted on said frameyagaugaand a combined boxsupport and auxiliary presser means also mounted upon said :frame'and adapted to be moved into position-to engage said box,'=-and to support said box and press it'agai'n'st' said gauge, in juxtaposition with said cutter.deviceand'pressing devices, to receive a stay, said-box-support being movable bodily away'fromtheoperating path of said reciprocatirig: cutter and: presser devices to permit respectively'th'e application'of a box to said gauge, the adjustment of 'saidbox, corner for corner, on saidi'gau'ge' withoutcomplet'e removal therefrom, and the final removal therefrom of said'box when it has received-said stay. t

3. In a machine for attaching box-corner stays, the combination with a frame, of a reciprocating plunger and operating means therefor mounted on said frame, a stay-cutter and a stay-pressing means respectively movable with, and actuated by, said plunger, a cooperating stay-cutter mounted on said frame, a gauge, and a combined boxsupport and cooperating presser anvil also mounted upon said frame and adapted to be moved into position to support said box in juxtaposition with said gauge, cutter device and pressing devices, to receive a stay, said box-support being movable bodily away from the operating path of said reciprocating cutter and presser devices to leave a free space of substantial extent between said path and said anvil, thereby to permit complete operative manipulation of said box without removal thereof from said gauge, and to permit respectively the application of a box to said gauge, and removal therefrom of said box when it has received said stay.

4. In a machine for attaching box-corner stays, the combination with a frame, of a reciprocating plunger and operating means therefor mounted on said frame, a stay-cutter and a stay-pressing means respectively movable with, and actuated by, said plunger, a cooperating stay-cutter mounted on said frame, a gauge, and a combined boxsupport and presser anvil means also mounted upon said frame and adapted to be moved into position to support said box in juxtaposition with said gauge, cutter devices and movable pressing device, to receive a stay, said box-support being supported on a slide mounted in a slideway remote from the operating path of said cutter and presser devices and adapted to permit respectively the application of a box to said gauge, and removal therefrom of said box when it has received said stay, and means tending to urge said box-support yieldingly into position to engage said box and support it in position to receive said stay, and means to move said support positively away from said position.

5. In a machine for attaching box-corner stays, cutting devices adapted to sever successive stay parts from a stock strip thereof, and presser devices adapted to apply said stay parts seriatim 'to the exterior corner-joint-wall portions of a box,

a gauge, and a box-support movable. relatively to the path of stay-applying operation-of said presser devices, said support being: adapted-to enter the box and to press said box .bottom-jend forward toward. said -agauge, saidsb ox-support being retractable from said path bodily toa position suitable to permit free manipulation of said box without complete removalof said boxlfrom saidgauge. a i

6. A machine for attaching box-comer staysrto the bevelled corners of a box having at leasta portion of its exterior contour in the shape of the frustum of a solid, for example,.the.frustum, of a pyramid, said machine comprising-means to present stay-parts of suitable contour successively in position forapplication to said bevelledbox corners, and movable. means to'press said stay parts successivelyupon said ,boxcomers, and a box-support movable bodily 'toward and away from the path of operative movement ofsaid presser means, said support including-apresser anvil having a nose portionto enter-said-box, and support an inner portion of .-fthebox,;walls, the under portion of said:nose beingg bevelled, rear-. wardly from thetip of the nose to afford clearance for the box whenwlthdrawnfrom the path of operative movement of -said presser devices;

whereby the box-may be manipulated readily to presentits' exterior stay-receiving wall in parallelism with said stay-pressingdevices.

. .7. In a machine oi the class described, means to feeda V-shaped stock strip of stay material, and means to sever therefrom successive approximately chevron-shaped stay-pieces.

8. A machine according to claim '6, and further characterized by having means to feed intermittently'a stock-strip of stay material, and means to sever therefrom. successive approximately chevron-shaped stay parts, in position respectively to be applied to said bevelled box corners by said presser means. i 9. In an apparatus forstaying the corner sections of a box having inwardly inclined'side portionsjthe' combination of a retractable member shaped 'to fit'the recess formed by the corner section and means for moving said member into the corner section, a pair of dies for cutting a gummedfstayftothe" desired shape, one of said dies having avsurface shaped to fit the exterior ofthe corner section and adapted to press the gummed. stay into engagement with the corner section. v I

s MARTINV.SILBY. 

